The EVST Program at R-MC has negotiated an agreement with Martin Marietta Quarry to establish a field research station for the EVST Program. The site contains approximately 66 acres, is only 8 miles from the R-MC campus, provides access to about 1.5 miles of the Little River, is located on the Fall Line, and contains a variety of bottom-land and upland habitats including a mature beech/maple forest and a dense stand of young pine.
The field site owned by Martin Marietta near the Verdon quarry is an ideal location for conducting research and class work in a variety of disciplines, including:
• Cartography: students are expected to know map and compass navigation, how to collect map data in the field using the Global Positioning System, and how to make maps using Geographic Information Systems.
•Aquatic monitoring: students are taught how to gather water quality information, including conducting chemical analyses and collecting and identifying aquatic insects, fish, and amphibians.
•Forest ecology: students complete a variety of work in terrestrial habitats including plant and animal sampling, tree and plant identification, estimation of vegetation density, small mammal trapping, bird identification, insect collecting, and other activities directed towards teaching students about forest ecosystems and ecological survey methods.
•Earth Sciences: students learn about the non-living parts of the environment by developing rating curves for stream gages, estimating sediment transport, and studying topics such as weathering, drainage, mass wasting, geologic mapping, soil analyses, and rock and mineral identification.
All students who use the field site must sign a release form before entering.
Scott, Megan, and Brad trail blazing at the field site:
